


The Quest Begins

by Allerleirauh



Series: Spirit of Camelot [1]
Category: Crusade
Genre: Adventure, Apocalypse Box - Freeform, Community: smallfandomfest, Conspiracy, Gen, M/M, Post-Series, Shadow Technology, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 13:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1780249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allerleirauh/pseuds/Allerleirauh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Captain Gideon is shot down on Mars <i>Excalibur's</i> crew finds itself faced with problems upon problems:<br/>Who tried to kill the captain? How can they save his life? Who exactly is behind the conspiracy within Earthforce, and  why would anyone be so foolish and try to fuse Earth and Shadow technology? But maybe the most pressing question is this: who is creating Shadow telepaths and for what purpose?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Going Rogue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [misura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/gifts).



> The story is a direct continuation of JMS unfilmed episode 'The End of the Line' that was intended as the first season finale. If you want to find out what happens in 'The End of the Line' (and you do, just believe me) you can find a very good summary and review here: http://www.worldsofjms.com/crusade/reviews/script3.htm
> 
> Over the years JMS has hinted at a lot of things he had intended to happen in the following seasons of Crusade. I've incorporated many of them in this story.
> 
> For everything concerning the techno-mages Jeanne Cavelos' trilogy 'The Passing of the Techno-Mages' is always an indispensable source of information. If you haven't read those books already, go ahead and do so now. 
> 
> The story was written for smallfandomfest round 15  
> Prompt: the Apocalypse Box  
> betaed by lahela sga

 

Galen was furious. He had been utterly powerless as he watched Matthew being shot down on Mars. Galen had called out, had tried to warn the captain, but it had been no use. He had seen the projectile hit Matthew in the chest, had watched him stagger backward, then fall to the ground.

Galen had pushed through the surrounding crowd, not heeding the complaints and cries of indignation around him. He couldn’t have cared less. When he had finally reached Matthew, Doctor Chambers had already been leaning over him, assessing his condition. She hadn’t needed long. With short-clipped orders she had commandeered the rest of the _Excalibur’s_ crew present to get their captain back to the shuttle. Galen had watched as Matheson, Max and Dureena had sprung into action at her words. It had taken them few but precious minutes to reach the shuttle.

Galen had followed behind, dark and brooding, only stopping once when a security detail of Mars’ authorities had tried to close up to them. He’d sent them tumbling into a wall, unconcerned about the havoc he’d left in his wake or if anyone of them had been seriously hurt, his thoughts solely focused on discovering and neutralizing any possible threats and making sure that the others and their precious cargo would reach the shuttle as fast as possible.

Casting a last glance over his shoulder, Galen had been about to board the shuttle, when he’d sensed someone blocking his way. He’d stopped abruptly and found Matheson standing in front of him.

“I’m sorry, Galen, but I have explicit orders not to let you on board of the _Excalibur,_ ” he had said. He had sounded very serious, with only the slightest trace of an apology in his voice that hinted at the awkwardness of the situation.

Galen had felt bile rise in his throat. So, Matthew has found the time to inform his crew about my new status as an unwelcome element aboard the _Excalibur,_ he’d thought bitterly. He really had no time for this right now. It had taken him only a half-step forward to effectively crowd the lieutenant, knowing full well that his own discomfort was nothing in comparison to the other man’s obvious mental strain over this enforced closeness that left nothing more but a hand’s breadth of space between them.

“Lieutenant, do you seriously believe you can stop me?” he had asked, watching Matheson’s face closely. Most of the time the telepath was very good at hiding his emotions. Galen had always assumed it was something that came automatically with the ability of reading other people’s thoughts and emotions.

Back then, however, Matheson’s face had been an open book, showing his worry for his captain so very clearly. He had wanted to follow Matthew’s orders, but he was all too aware that he wouldn’t stand a chance against Galen.

Seeing the conflicting thoughts playing over Matheson’s features and clamping down hard on his impatience, Galen had grudgingly relented and tried to make it easier for Matheson.

“Lieutenant, we’re losing precious time,” he had said, and more urgently he had added, “Let me help.”

He thought it was this last plea that allowed Matheson to finally give in.

***

Galen was fighting. He was in a place he didn’t recognize, all walls and sharp angles, but lacking any distinct features.

There were humans all around him, threatening him, attacking him. He tried to keep them at bay, and noticed then that something wasn’t right about them. Their extremities were oddly distorted and here and there he saw Shadow technology protruding from their bodies. Desperately he looked for a way out. He wanted to run, but for some unfathomable reason he seemed to be rooted to the spot. It almost felt as if his feet were stuck to the ground. He had never experienced anything similar, and soon he was so frightened and dizzy he was almost ready to beg to be left alone or to end this as quickly as possible.  

More and more of them were advancing on him, appearing out of nowhere and closing in on him. If only he had his staff, but its absence had been the first terrible realization that had struck him after he’d found himself in this limbo. The second one had been the dawning horror he had felt when he had been unable to draw on his tech to protect himself. He closed his eyes, knowing with sudden and utter clarity that in the next second they would rip him apart.

“Galen? Galen, wake up!” someone shouted at him.

He came awake with a shudder, and for a moment he had absolutely no idea where he was. Looking around and up at the person standing beside him, he saw the familiar face of Doctor Chambers staring at him worriedly. He stared back at her, his mind a complete blank. Then he understood. He’d fallen asleep in one of the medbay’s visitor chairs.

He blinked a couple of times. His eyes felt dry as if he had stared too long or too hard at something. Cautiously he stretched and grimaced at feeling the stiffness in his back and shoulders. He had no idea what had happened to him. He wasn’t a stranger to nightmares from time to time, but this last one felt decidedly odd. He shook his head to clear his mind.

Looking up at Doctor Chambers who was still hovering at his side, scrutinizing him anxiously, he asked, “Matthew?”

“I’m sorry Galen,” she answered, the words rushing over her lips as if she was desperate to get rid of them.

Mirroring the sense of dread that had overshadowed his nightmare, Galen could only stare at her. He had failed. He didn’t understand how or why, but he had obviously failed. He hadn’t acted fast or decisively enough. He’d allowed events to spin out of control, and now Matthew was dead, he thought numbly.

A hand grabbed his shoulder, hard.

“No, Galen!” Chambers practically shouted at him, before she continued in a calmer voice. “He isn’t dead. I’m sorry, I should’ve explained immediately. I had to put him in cryonic suspension.”

Her answer was confusing. It didn’t make sense. “You said he would pull through,” he said, not even trying to keep the accusation out of his voice.

Chambers sighed. “I know, and I was sure of it. Yes, his injury was serious, but I had managed to stabilize his condition even before we had reached the _Excalibur_. I was confident he was out of immediate danger, but then he suddenly flatlined.” She raised her hands in a gesture of confused helplessness. “I resuscitated him… only within minutes it happened again. I tried waking you, but you were so deeply asleep not even shaking you had any effect. You were completely paralyzed.” She frowned, and pulling another chair toward her, she sat down beside him. She looked at him imploringly as if she knew how unbelievable her story sounded but hoped nonetheless that maybe he would be able to make sense out of it. “It was almost unreal, Galen,” she said at last.

Galen still didn’t know what to think. What she told him couldn’t have happened like that. Either that or she was leaving out some important details, whether unknowingly or intentionally he couldn’t say.

“What then?” he asked, for the moment refraining from challenging her story. There would be time enough for that later.

Nervously she fiddled with the surgeon’s mask dangling from her neck. “As I said, I put the captain into one of our cryonic units. Then I tried to wake you again. I shook you, and you almost ripped my arm off, but you didn’t wake up. I tried again and the second time it finally worked.” She looked at him curiously. “Just what where you dreaming of, Galen?” she asked.

“Monsters,” he answered.

He realized there was no point in staying here any longer. If Matthew had been put into suspension, there were things that needed to be done, and right now the doctor couldn’t help him with that. He rose to his feet and strode out of the medbay, leaving behind the doctor’s indignant protests for walking out on her like this.

Galen knew exactly where he wanted to go now. Walking through _Excalibur’s_ corridors he considered with whom he should speak first: Dureena or Matheson?

It wasn’t that difficult a decision.

Using his tech he very carefully reached out to the lieutenant. He hadn’t tried this before, but the sniper attack on Matthew had definitely changed the rules of the game. It was time to take the gloves off.

 _‘Lieutenant Matheson, please meet me in the captain’s quarters,’_ he sent.

He received only a silent wave of surprise in return. It was enough, though. The lieutenant would come. Again Galen quickened his steps. There were a couple of things he needed to check and confirm before Matheson arrived.

***

The sound of the door chime found Galen standing right in the center of Matthew’s quarters. He cast a last quick look around, making sure that there were no visible traces of his search.

“Come,” he said, and the door slid open.

Standing in the open door, Matheson looked at him warily. Then he stepped inside.

With an inviting gesture, Galen indicated the small table and chairs to his left. “Have a seat, Lieutenant.”

“I’d prefer to—“ Matheson began.

“Have a _seat_ ,” Galen repeated, this time making it clear that it wasn’t an option but an order.

During his search Galen had tried to come up with the best approach for this conversation. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to it, but it seemed he had no choice. As first officer Matheson had always seemed competent enough, and the fact that he was a telepath, albeit only a P6, certainly was a boon. Apart from that, Galen had thought of the man as something of a bore, competent and efficient, but lacking what Galen valued in Matthew - the creativity and the willingness to search for unconventional solutions if more mundane ones had failed.

Sitting down opposite from Matheson, Galen again considered where to begin when the lieutenant beat him to it.

“I wasn’t aware you’re a telepath,” Matheson said. He looked slightly surprised, but mostly suspicious.

Galen had been sure the lieutenant wouldn’t be able to resist that particular bait, which, of course, was the very reason why Galen had contacted the telepath exactly the way he had. Although Galen would have chosen another opening himself, it didn’t matter. This was as good a start as any other.

“I’m not,” he replied and watched a frown appear on Matheson’s face. “However, I can draw on other abilities and resources that allow me to reach a telepath’s mind if I have to,” he continued.

“Resources?” Matheson asked.

Galen allowed himself a thin smile. “Directly to the point, Lieutenant. I’ve always liked that about you,” he answered. He had no intention of explaining this particular skill any further, but he was confident that Matheson wouldn’t mind once Galen had told him everything else.

Leaning slightly forward, he folded his hands on the table in front of him. He saw Matheson straighten in response. Time to take the plunge, he thought.

“Back in Sector 420 at that secret Earthforce base, Matthew discovered three rather uncomfortable truths,” Galen began. “He learned that Earthforce has been experimenting with fusing Earth technology and Shadow technology for a very long time, much longer than everyone thinks, and they didn’t stop when the Interstellar Alliance placed a ban on the use of Shadow technology.

“They are building Shadow hybrids, Earthforce ships with Shadow technology, but that’s not all. Matthew also discovered that these experiments include attempts to modify humans with Shadow technology. The resultant mutations we saw down there were… monstrous.” Galen paused. He wanted this information to sink in before he continued. He saw Matheson nod slowly.

“I wasn’t aware about experiments on humans, but I already knew about the ships,” Matheson commented. He gave Galen a speculative look.

Galen didn’t want to answer any questions, not right now, not when he was about to disclose the most painful and certainly the most personal discovery Matthew had made. “The third truth Matthew discovered concerns me,” he said slowly. “Unfortunately he found out that my people, the techno-mages, use Shadow technology, too, have done so for a very long time in fact.”

He studied Matheson closely. This, the lieutenant _hadn’t_ known. Galen watched him processing this last bit of information, saw the wariness and concern appear on the other man’s face that Galen had expected. The sliver of sympathy, though, was a surprise. It was also unwelcome and left him feeling uncomfortable. He forcibly restrained himself from snapping at Matheson to stay focused.

“Why are you telling me this, Galen?” Matheson asked, before Galen could decide on another more appropriate reaction. More aggressively he added, “So far it’s always been smoke and mirrors with you. Never give a direct answer when a circumspect one might do either.”

Maybe the sympathy had been an illusion, Galen thought, feeling mostly relieved and ignoring the small stab of disappointment.

“Would you believe me if I told you I’m trying to come clean?” he asked with a smile.

“Hardly,” Matheson replied.

How to explain? Galen wondered. That he had a change of heart? It would sound utterly ridiculous. That he saw no alternative? That answer certainly held an amount of truth. It wasn’t the right one, though.

“Tell me, Lieutenant. Do you have friends?” he finally asked.

Matheson frowned. “I don’t see—“

“Humor me,” Galen interrupted him.

“Very well, so, no. I’m a telepath. We don’t make friends easily, and with the past war—“

Again Galen didn’t let him finish. “I have _one_ ,” he said.

Matheson was silent for a moment. “I was under the impression you and Captain Gideon were a bit more than just friends,” he finally replied.

And who gave you permission to get so cheeky all of the sudden, Lieutenant? Galen thought, amused regardless of the seriousness of their conversation. Trying to keep me on my toes, are you?

Aloud he only said, “He was my friend first.” He leaned further forward, giving Matheson a hard stare. “I have spent the last two days in medbay, watching Doctor Chambers fight for Matthew’s life. Even though his wound was grave, she remained confident that she had the situation well in hand. Now, however, Matthew is in cryonic suspension, a desperate last minute attempt on the doctor’s part to stop him from slipping away.”

“Do you know what happened to him?” Matheson asked.

“No. I have my suspicions, but suspicions aren’t good enough to save Matthew’s life. What I _do_ know is that he has stumbled over something far bigger than he’s been aware of.” Galen paused for a moment, scrutinizing the man in front of him. He wondered how much Matheson knew. “Tell me, Lieutenant. Did Matthew take you into his confidence?” he asked.

Matheson hesitated. Galen thought he could guess at the reasons for Matheson’s reluctance, even if the lieutenant’s likely suspicion that Galen was trying to determine the extent of his knowledge so he could withhold some of his own was unfounded. For the moment at least, he thought.

“During the last few years I’ve helped the captain in his search for those responsible for destroying the _Cerberus._ I might not know all the details. Occasionally he said he needed to withhold stuff for my own protection,” Matheson said at last. A slight smile stole itself onto the lieutenant’s face. “But if we’re talking about the big picture here, I certainly know the broad strokes,” he added.

Galen nodded. He had suspected that Matthew and his first officer were in this together. Now he had the confirmation. It should make a lot of things much easier.

“I believe that Matthew is in grave danger, a danger that Doctor Chambers can’t even begin to comprehend,” he said. “Somehow this danger is related to the Shadows, or more precisely, their legacy – the Shadow tech. So far I haven’t been able to assemble more than a few disconnected pieces of this puzzle. If we want to get to the bottom of this, we’ll need all of them. This conspiracy of shadows involves far more players than merely some elements in your Earthforce.

“It’s evident that the sniper attack on Matthew was directly related to his infiltration of that Earthforce base in Sector 420. He obviously made some people very nervous when he so unexpectedly showed up on their doorstep. Though it will undoubtedly present us with more dangers, we have to press on in that direction. In the end, we might even find what you are seeking most – a cure for the plague.”

“So, you want us to do this together,” Matheson said, his voice turning the statement into a question.

“Anything else would be extremely foolish, don’t you think?” Galen asked back. “And that’s another reason why I am, as you so adroitly put it earlier, uncharacteristically direct with you.”

Matheson remained silent for a long time, then he nodded. With a thin smile he asked, “What do you need?”

“For a start, I need to retrieve my flyer. It’s still down on Mars. After that, we’ll be ready to make plans,” Galen answered.

***

“Hello, John.”

Galen’s voice came from somewhere behind him and to his right. For a second John was startled at being addressed by his first name. On second thought, though, he could see the logic behind it, even if it was Galen’s logic, strange and warped and always following a path that seemed slightly askew to everyone else’s.

Before Galen had left the _Excalibur_ to retrieve his flyer, the two of them had spent a long time in the captain’s quarters, talking about what Galen had so aptly coined a ‘conspiracy of shadows’. They had pooled their knowledge and exchanged their views. To John’s surprise they had also reached a certain level of understanding that John wouldn’t have thought possible.

“Hello, Galen,” he answered, looking up when the techno-mage stepped onto the bridge and came closer.

John was sitting in the captain’s chair, and he wasn’t exactly comfortable with it. In fact, he had spent quite some time this morning debating the matter in his mind. He had even considered leaving the chair empty as a gesture of respect. Then he had chided himself for being ridiculous. While Captain Gideon was in medbay John was in command of the _Excalibur,_ and it wasn’t as if he had never sat there before. Yes, but the circumstances have never been like this, a small voice whispered in his mind. He firmly told it to shut up.

“Comfortable?” Galen asked, oddly mirroring John’s own thoughts, though the techno-mage seemed more amused than critical.

John looked at him in silent exasperation, willing Galen to just go away or at least leave him in peace about this particular topic.

“How was your briefing with Senator McQuate?” Galen finally relented.

John sighed. From the frying pan into the fire, he thought. “It didn’t take place,” he answered. “I’ve been informed by the senator’s aide that the senator doesn’t have time to talk to me at the moment. I was _also_ informed that I should await the arrival of _Excalibur_ ’s new captain.” He looked at Galen and saw his eyes widen in mocking astonishment.

“Oh my, they can be awfully fast if they have to,” the techno-mage commented drily.

John had thought exactly the same earlier on, and despite his sour mood the realization made him smile. “Which is why I’ve called for a meeting this afternoon, just Doctor Chambers, Mr. Eilerson and Dureena. I expect you to attend, too,” he said. He was slightly nervous about this. He knew how much Galen resented it when others took him for granted or thought he was at their disposal. John had considered asking Galen about this first, preferably in private, but ultimately he had decided against it. Galen had quite clearly stated that he considered them to be in this together, and John thought it was time to take the techno-mage at his word. Otherwise John would feel perpetually obligated to walk on egg-shells, and frankly, he had neither the time nor the patience for it.

That didn’t prevent his nervousness from changing to alarm, however, when Galen didn’t reply but only turned around, obviously intending to leave the bridge without a word.

“Where are you going?” John asked. He had a sudden vision of Galen, heading down to the flight deck to get back to his flyer.

“Medbay. I’ll see you at the meeting.” Galen’s voice floated back to him out of the corridor leading from the bridge to the transport lifts.

***

When Galen entered medbay Doctor Chambers was already waiting for him. Preempting any questions she might want to ask him, he said, “I need all of Matthew’s medical data you’ve collected since you brought him here after Mars. No, come to think of it, give me his complete medical file.”

She gave him a surprised look, but, gratifyingly, she didn’t even attempt to argue about patient confidentiality.

Instead she only nodded and waved him over to one of medbay’s research stations. She drew up Matthew’s file and gave him full access.

“Here you are,” she said, giving him a sideways glance and a slight smile.

As it turned out, there was a lot of data. It took Galen hours to sift through all of it. Every once in a while he had to call Chambers over, mostly to ask her to explain one detail or another, but for the most part he worked alone and in silence. At some point a glass of water appeared at his elbow. He only noticed its presence after he’d taken a first sip.

It was a frustrating search, but he was determined to go over every detail. Naturally, everything would’ve been far easier if Matthew weren’t in cryonic suspension. The suspension made every attempt at scanning futile, which meant Galen had to resign himself to the comparably crude methods of analysis currently employed by Earth Medical.

“Galen? It’s time for the meeting,” Chambers finally interrupted his reading.

He had completely lost track of time, he realized. “Tell John, I’ll join you later,” he said absently, not bothering to look up. He could feel her lingering beside him for a moment before she finally turned and left.

A few minutes later Galen had finally read and analyzed all the data. He had found little of relevance. That left him with only one other option. He didn’t expect much insight from checking on the cryo unit, and dreaded the sight of it and its occupant, but it was a necessity nonetheless. He couldn’t risk missing anything.

The cryo unit wasn’t in the main room. Galen had noticed that with some relief immediately when he had come into the medbay earlier. It only made sense, he thought. Why keep something so bulky around here, where it might get in the way during a medical emergency? It wasn’t as if Matthew’s condition was liable to change, not while he was in suspension.

Galen found the unit in one of the smaller side rooms that were normally reserved for patients who had to stay longer in medbay than just a day or two. Reluctantly Galen stepped closer. Gazing through the unit’s slightly frosted transparent covering, he could see Matthew’s face looking slightly waxen in the blue light of the unit’s dim illumination. There were no visible signs of his struggle for survival that he would’ve eventually lost hadn’t Sarah chosen this last desperate option of cryonic suspension. He didn’t look peaceful though.

You brave fool, Galen thought. It wasn’t enough to send me away, was it? You had to go ahead and ask Max to set up that more than ill-advised meeting with Mars’ Provisional Government. I imagine it never occurred to you that Mars Gov might be in on this conspiracy, just as it never crossed your mind that someone might consider you inconvenient enough to get rid of you.

Placing a hand on the unit’s cover, Galen let it slowly wander down its length. Using every means his tech offered, he tried to detect any signs that might help him to understand what might’ve happened to Matthew. He found nothing, but then he hadn’t expected to find anything here.

He stepped back, straightening his shoulders. It was time to attend John’s meeting. The thought alone made him shudder slightly.

***

John couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so out of control in any given situation, let alone something as mundane as a meeting.

At first everything had been seemingly normal, or at least as normal as one could expect under the current circumstances. Dureena and Max had arrived first. Then Sarah Chambers had joined them, informing them that Galen was still held up in medbay, but had said he would join them later.

Unsurprisingly her words had drawn quite a few smirks. Remembering his earlier surprise at Galen’s consent to join them, John was feeling slightly disappointed. He only hoped that Galen wouldn’t wait until their meeting was almost over before he deigned to grace them with his presence.

Taking a deep breath, he had opened the meeting. There were a lot of things to discuss and at least for some of those they really wouldn’t need Galen.

It didn’t take John long to brief the others on the latest information Galen had given him the day before. He had already told them a lot of it shortly before Captain Gideon’s ill-fated trip to Mars. At the time John had been concerned the captain might do something foolish, especially since he had been so adamant in his refusal of any back-up.

Some of his information was new to them, though, and when he mentioned the human-shadow mutants, they reacted with the same shock and outrage he had felt himself. He decided to drop the information about the techno-mages’ use of Shadow technology for the moment. Let Galen deal with that himself, he thought.

One topic he had reserved for last: the arrival of _Excalibur_ ’s new captain the next morning. He had barely gotten the words out when all hell broke loose.

Naturally it was into this madhouse of snide comments and angry protests that Galen chose to finally make his entrance, doing his usual act of suddenly and silently appearing in the conference room’s open door.

Arms crossed in front of his chest and casually leaning against the doorframe he said, “Really John, what have you done to them? I can’t remember them ever being so livid in one of Matthew’s meetings.”

His comment silenced the room immediately.

John wasn’t sure if it was the mention of Captain Gideon or the condescending amusement in Galen’s voice that did the trick, but it worked. Throwing a knowing glance in John’s direction, Galen casually strolled into the room and sat down beside him. John had to suppress a smile at the sight. Galen joining a meeting wasn’t an absolute novelty, but he almost never sat down with them.

He’s certainly captured their attention, John thought, and he was slightly embarrassed about the envy he felt at seeing the techno-mage’s skill for captivating his audience.

“So, what fascinating subject were you discussing when I came in?” Galen asked. He had folded his hands on the table in front of him, and his whole demeanor projected nothing but polite interest.

“They are trying to saddle us with another captain,” Max answered sourly. “His shuttle will arrive tomorrow.”

“We were discussing which options we have,” John threw in. He thought it high time that he brought this meeting back under his control.

“We could shoot it down,” Galen replied lightly, causing a round of head-shakes and smiles around the table.

John wanted to groan. Yes, thank you, Galen, he thought. “No, we couldn’t,” he said firmly.

“Fine, I’ll take my flyer and shoot the shuttle down myself. That way you can claim ignorance,” Galen quipped.

This time John _did_ groan. “Galen, would you please stop suggesting that we kill him? I’m sure there are more constructive and, more importantly, less violent ways to deal with this,” he said, trying to show a patience he didn’t feel.

“Do we know who it is?” Doctor Chambers asked.

John shook his head. “I asked but was told I should just wait for his arrival. I only know it’s a man, but that’s not exactly narrowing down the field of possible candidates.” He paused, trying to gauge how the others felt about the matter. While his empathic range was rather limited under normal circumstances, he could clearly sense Dureena’s anger and Max’s annoyance. The one who seemed the least perturbed was Sarah Chambers, while Galen was so perfectly shielded that John couldn’t sense even the faintest trace of emotion from him. No big surprise there, John thought.

Taking the initiative, he said, “Let me summarize our options, okay?” He waited until he’d gotten a round of nods. “Fine, option one: the new captain comes aboard and assumes command. We in turn try to find out if we can involve him in our search. If so we have gained an ally, if not, we have again two options. We continue our search behind his back or find a way to get rid of him.” He threw a glance at Galen. “And no, by getting rid of him I don’t mean shooting him.

“Both these alternatives are problematic. Doing this kind of search behind a captain’s back is practically impossible, and getting rid of him constitutes nothing less than mutiny. We could run into serious trouble with the rest of _Excalibur’s_ crew if we follow that path, not to mention Earthforce.” He paused for a moment, sipping from his glass of water. He wanted to give them time to digest what he was telling them. Then he continued.

“Option two: We deny the captain’s shuttle access to our flight deck. The advantage of that option is that it avoids the necessity of having to deal with a new captain entirely. Of course, it’s still mutiny, but we would have a better chance of bringing the rest of the crew to our side, and that’s a very important point.

“This option, however, has another serious disadvantage. Going rogue means we’re going to lose the whole logistical infrastructure we’ve relied on so far. We’re not only losing our affiliation with Earth Alliance but with the Interstellar Alliance, too. That means no more supply stops at Babylon 5, no support from the Anla’Shok, no repairs at any Earthforce dock.” John looked at the circle of faces around the table, trying to gauge the effect his words had on the others. No one said a word, but emotions ran high among them, and he sensed a lot of what remained unsaid. Dureena was still angry. No, she was even angrier now. Max had a rather speculative look on his face, but his feelings were contradictory. He seemed to be torn what to think and how to decide. Sarah Chambers was very obviously appalled by the idea of going rogue. Her expression showed her revulsion very clearly. She was also embarrassed and feeling guilty. John couldn’t discern what caused those feelings, but her inability to determine what had gone wrong with her treatment of the captain was a fair guess. Unsurprisingly Galen’s mental shields were still up and presented John with the usual mirror of shimmering obsidian.

“There’s one other thing, I should mention,” he said. “I’ve got a call from a trustworthy source within Earthforce, a former colleague of mine, actually. It seems that Earthforce is considering pressing charges of treason against everyone involved in our latest actions at that secret base in Sector 420 and on Mars.”

This last bit of news produced another round of angry comments. John hadn’t expected anything else. That was why he had held it back as the last piece of information. He raised a hand and slowly they calmed down again.

“We’re going to vote on this,” he continued. “I’ve thought about this, and I think it’s what Captain Gideon would want us to do, and let’s not forget, this will be our first priority: getting the captain out of suspension. If the circumstances were different I would ask you to sleep on this. I’d prefer to give you time to think this over, but as it is, we don’t have the time. We have to decide now.” He leaned back, waiting to hear their decisions.

He was surprised when Galen answered first, though he beat Dureena only by the slimmest margin.

“I’ve always like the term ‘rogue’,” Galen said.

“Rogue,” Dureena fell in after him, her voice as sharp as the stiletto she’d started playing with a while ago and that she was now dangling between her fingers.

Max hummed under his breath, staring at the table’s surface in front of him. He sighed theatrically. “Do you have any idea what IPX will do to me once they find out?” he asked, though obviously he didn’t expect an answer because he immediately continued. “If you think that spacing is brutal, you haven’t seen the penalties those corporate-harpies can inflict upon you. They’re going to confiscate all my shares. I’m going to lose my pension plan. They’ll claim all my patents—“

“Max,” Galen interrupted him, his voice deceptively soft.

The archeologist shot him a peeved look. “Rogue,” Max grumbled.

John looked at Sarah Chambers, saw her close her eyes.

“Rogue,” she said, her distress palpable in her voice, but when she opened her eyes again the look she gave him was decisive and unwavering.

“Rogue,” John said himself, completing the circle of votes.

He felt immensely relieved that their decision had been unanimous. He smiled at them. “Good, I’ll have to think about what we’re going to tell the crew.” He threw a questioning look at Galen and got a nod in response. The techno-mage would help him. “I’m not going to address them before we’ve sent that captain on his way, though.”

Apparently the others thought this was the end of their meeting, because Dureena pushed her chair back and Max seemed ready to leave too, but John wasn’t finished. “I’m sorry. I’m aware that we’ve already spent quite some time here, but there are two more things I want to discuss, both equally important.”

Dureena and Max both settled back into their chairs, though Dureena shot him an annoyed look.

“Galen has told me he suspects that Captain Gideon’s current condition isn’t the result of his recent injuries but of other external factors. Galen has spent a long time in sick bay today, going through the captain’s medical records. I think we all want to know what he’s found out,” John said. He smiled when he sensed the attention level in the room noticeably shooting upwards. See, I can do it, too, he told himself.

Galen remained silent for a moment as if he needed to collect his thoughts. “The injury Matthew suffered on Mars was life-threatening. However, Sarah dealt with it both competently and efficiently.” He nodded at Doctor Chambers appreciatively who returned his gesture with a slight smile. “Matthew’s condition was stable. He was, in fact, on the path of recovery. Then, for no apparent reason, his heart stopped. I believe that something, some force for lack of a better word, interfered. I also suspect that this force is somehow connected to Shadow technology.”

“I’ve seen no evidence of any external interference,” Doctor Chambers said with a frown.

Galen nodded. “I wouldn’t expected you to, but remember what happened that day. You told me that Matthew’s heart stopped repeatedly, that you tried to wake me, but couldn’t, that I was paralyzed and seemed to be having a nightmare,” he said.

“Are you telling us that you were under the same influence as he was?” Dureena asked. Putting her knife down, she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m suggesting,” Galen answered.

“Have you found anything useful in the medical data?” John asked. He had already known about Galen’s suspicion. Yesterday Galen had told him that he hoped to find new evidence in the captain’s medical file. So maybe Galen had learnt something new.

“No,” Galen replied to John’s question. “Only that there were no medical reasons for his heart to stop.”

“What I don’t understand,” Max said, joining their discussion for the first time since their vote, “is how this interference could’ve worked. I always thought the Shadows could only influence people who had let them in, so to speak. You know, people who had some connection to the Shadows. Now, I don’t know as much about Shadow technology as I would like, but I always thought that what was true for the Shadows is also true for their technology. Or am I wrong here?”

He paused for a moment, giving Galen another of his speculative looks. “Which of course makes me wonder what kind of connection you or the captain might have to the Shadows… _or_ their technology.” His words left a heavy silence in their wake.

It was, John thought, a good question. He looked at Galen, aware that everyone else in the room was doing the same.

Galen remained silent for a long time. So long in fact, that the others were beginning to get restless.

“The technology a techno-mage uses shares many similarities to Shadow technology,” he said at last, speaking very slowly and precisely as if he’d put a lot of thought into choosing each single word.

John noticed that Galen was looking at Doctor Chambers now, even if it had been Max who had posed the question. “That is no coincidence since it was the Shadows who created both,” Galen continued.

John saw Max smirk. The man had obviously expected an answer along those lines. Not for the first time, John wondered just how much Max knew about certain subjects or people – the techno-mages, for example. As a xenoarcheologist and an employee of IPX, he certainly had the right expertise and connections to have access to information that was classified or otherwise restricted. In contrast to Max Dureena and Doctor Chambers looked shocked. For these two Galen’s revelation had definitely come unexpected.

Galen continued, “Now, before you draw any unfortunate conclusions, let me make one thing absolutely clear. Neither my order nor I were in any way affiliated with the Shadows, nor have we any sympathies for their epigones,” Galen finished.

John was surprised. He hadn’t expected the techno-mage to disclose so much. It had seemed far more likely that Galen would try to give the others a more edited version of the facts he had told John yesterday, and John had been halfway prepared to let him get away with it. Something is definitely going on here, he thought.

“Okay,” Max said after a while, sounding unconcerned, and John inwardly applauded him for the attempt, even if he was perfectly aware how disconcerted Max really was. “That explains your connection to Shadow technology, but what about Gideon?” Max asked, displaying all the tenacity of a stray terrier that had accidentally discovered a bone and wouldn’t let go now, no matter what.

John felt Galen’s mental shields ripple, and he could sense how close the last questions had brought the techno-mage to the end of his tether.

“I suspect he might’ve become vulnerable to outside interference by association,” Galen answered. “And before you ask any more obtuse questions, Max, yes, I mean association with me.”

Suddenly pushing back his chair, Galen stood up. “If that is all?” he said, and without waiting for an answer he bolted.

John cleared his throat, trying to draw everyone’s attention. “Let’s continue tomorrow, shall we?” he said.

***

Galen had retreated to Matthew’s quarters. He was almost certain that no one would look for him here, with the exception of John perhaps, but he could deal with John. The telepath was generally too polite to be nosy. That left only Matthew’s infernal box, but for the moment Galen was content to ignore its whisperings.

The meeting had been a mixed bag. Galen had been satisfied with the band’s decision to sever their ties with Earthforce. Yes, they would have to get by with far less logistical support, but he was confident they would manage.

What had infuriated him was the interrogation that had taken place toward the end. He couldn’t decide what had been worse: the particular questions or the interrogation situation as a whole. His mind still reeled at the memory of what he had done. He’d revealed some of his order’s most closely kept secrets. While he was fairly sure that none of the others would discuss this outside of their group, the sheer enormity of his breach of secrecy left him slightly sick to the stomach. The Circle would certainly have him flayed for such a transgression.

Yet, a small voice in his mind whispered insistently that it might very well be the right and better choice to share what he knew. For more than twenty years no techno-mage had been initiated. With the source of their tech destroyed there would be no new mages and one after the other the remaining ones would die. Their order would pass, becoming another footnote in history.

As far as he knew, he and Alwyn were the only mages who had left the order’s hiding-place, and with the Circle so full of fear, it was highly unlikely that the rest of the order would follow his and Alwyn’s example anytime soon, if ever. Maybe it was the right time to tell others at least some of his order’s history and stories, and who would be a better audience than those he’d come to know here on board of the _Excalibur_?

The door chime sounded, and, as expected, it was John who had sought him out. He gave Galen only a brief look before he walked to Matthew’s small kitchenette. Returning with two glasses of something that was definitely not water, though Galen couldn’t immediately identify the contents, he sat opposite Galen and looked at him appraisingly.

Galen was in no mood for any games right now. “What?” he snapped, sounding even sharper than he had intended.

John chuckled. “Nothing of what was said in our meeting earlier will leave that conference room. That was one of the first things we agreed upon earlier, though at the time you were still in medbay, so I thought I should mention it. I asked every one of them if they would allow me to scan them and check the trustworthiness of their promises. They all said yes.”

Interesting, Galen thought. “And did you scan them?” he asked.

“Yes, as expected I found no indications of duplicity.”

Galen was relieved. Regardless of his earlier thoughts about sharing some of his order’s history and probably even its knowledge, his urge to uphold the code of secrecy was strong - no wonder after living by it for practically his entire life.

“Thank you,” he said to John, and he meant it.

“I’d like your thoughts on how to best address the crew tomorrow,” Matheson continued, changing the subject. “And if you’re up to it I want to discuss how we’re going to proceed from now on. We’re going to face a lot of changes after tomorrow, and we have to make plans regarding our priorities.”

For a while Galen studied the young man. He’s so awfully serious in some ways, but there’s also something about him that reminds me ever so slightly of an eager puppy. Maybe it’s his readiness to please and to fit in. “Let’s hear what you’ve got already,” he said and smiled when John picked up the com pad he’d brought with him.

***

“ _Excalibur_ , this is the Earthforce shuttle _Daedalus_ , requesting permission to land. Please, acknowledge,” the voice said, coming over the bridge’s intercom.

John had waited for this call all morning, his nervousness ever increasing until Galen had been so exasperated with him, he’d started telling him ridiculous stories about wizards and dragons and mermaids, that had been so absurd that John had gotten distracted enough to stop worrying. John had deeply appreciated the gesture.

“ _Excalibur_ to _Daedalus_ , request denied,” he answered. Afterward it felt like someone had just lifted a weight from his shoulders. Not that this was over already, but he had made the first critical step. The rest would follow almost automatically.

“ _Excalibur_ , please repeat,” the shuttle pilot’s voice asked again.

“Request denied, _Daedalus_ ,” John answered.

He could hear agitated whispering over the com channel. Apparently the pilot had forgotten to cut the connection in his astonishment. A moment later a new voice said, “ _Excalibur_ , this is Captain Charles Mitchell. I’ve been sent by Earthforce to assume command of the _Excalibur_. Who am I talking to?” Mitchell was clearly pissed off, and he made no attempt to hide it.

“Captain Mitchell, this is Lieutenant John Matheson. I’ve assumed command of the _Excalibur_ , until Captain Gideon can take over again. Your request to come aboard is denied. Any further inquiries on your part won’t be answered,” John replied. Turning to the communications officer he said, “Davis, we won’t accept any further incoming transmissions from the _Daedalus_.”

Looking around the bridge he saw that practically all eyes were on him now. Officers and crewmen were staring at him as if he’d spontaneously sprouted a second head. The accompanying emotions were like a wall of water hitting him face-first, drowning him in waves of surprise, disbelief, and rising suspicion. By contrast Galen’s presence behind him felt like a safe haven of calm, confidence and amusement.

Activating the ship-wide intercom, John spoke again, “Attention all hands. This is Lieutenant Matheson. There will be an assembly on the flight deck in exactly fifteen minutes.” He checked his watch. “That is at exactly 1000 hours. Attendance is mandatory for all crewmembers currently off shift. Everyone who can’t leave her or his post will be able to listen to the assembly’s proceedings via intercom.”

He leaned back. It was done.

***

Immediately after the crew’s assembly John found himself once again presiding over a meeting with Dureena, Max, Sarah Chambers, and Galen.

Sitting in his usual chair, he let his gaze wander over the others’ faces. After the assembly they had congratulated him for his speech. Now they were trying to wager how many if any of _Excalibur_ ’s crew would decide to leave.

It was a choice John had to offer. Everyone who didn’t want to follow them on their chosen path would be allowed to leave the next day. John was sure it would be more than a marginal percentage. The crew’s emotional responses had been a clear indicator. He only hoped they wouldn’t lose too many crewmembers of any specific department. Briefly he wondered if he should tell the others but then decided against it. Not all of them were as comfortable with his telepathic abilities and empathic range as Gideon or Galen, but then none of them could block him like Galen, or show the same disregard about any possible indiscretions that Gideon so frequently did.

What I would give to have the captain here right now, he thought. He’s always so casual during these things. It looks so easy, but I already feel as if I’ve aged at least a year during the last few days.

“John?” Galen’s voice slowly filtered into his musings, bringing him back to the here and now.

“I’m sorry. Where were we?” he asked back.

“I was just explaining that my first priority will be to find a way to get Matthew out of suspension. There are several leads I’d like to explore. Some of them will require that I leave the _Excalibur_ , but not all,” Galen answered, giving him a sharp look.

“Good,” John answered. “That’s exactly what I want you to do. The rest of us will have other tasks.” He looked at Dureena, Max, and Sarah. “By tomorrow information about our new status will have reached all the important organizations. We will issue a statement, declaring that we have every intention of staying true to our primary mission objective. I will try to make contact with Babylon 5. I expect it will be much easier to reach Captain Lochley than asking for President Sheridan himself. Ultimately we need to contact the Interstellar Alliance, and hopefully they won’t write us off completely.

“I will also start conducting crew interviews. I want your help, Dureena, with those. We’ll have to make sure that everyone who decides to stay on the _Excalibur_ does so for the right reasons. We simply can’t risk having any moles on board. I’d also like you to think about planets that might offer us safe ports. There are still many worlds out there that are non-aligned. The question is: which will offer us opportunities for trade and repairs?” He gave Dureena a questioning glance, and she nodded in acknowledgement.

John turned to Max. “I want _you_ to contact Mars’ Provisional Government again.” His words drew a round of immediate protests, but he waved the others into silence. “Yes, try choosing another contact this time, but we have to determine if and how deep Mars Gov is involved in this conspiracy. Talking to Mars Gov won’t hurt, and Max knows better than to give them any information that might prove dangerous to us.”

Max didn’t look particularly happy, an understandable reaction, considering what had happened the last time he had made contact with Mars Gov, but he nodded grudgingly.

“Sarah,” John continued, “I want you to contact the Earth Alliance Health Organization. Tell them they have to determine what is more important to them: finding a cure for the plague or letting themselves get entangled in political power struggles and conspiracies. If possible try contacting Doctor Franklin. With his background he should be more amiable than others to give us a chance.”

“Reaching Stephen shouldn’t be too difficult, Sarah answered with a smile.

John leaned back and looked down at his com pad, checking that he hadn’t forgotten anything. It didn’t look as if he had.

He was about to bring the meeting to a close, when Max cleared his throat and gave him a hesitant look.

“Yes?” John asked.

“Aren’t we going to vote on our next steps?” Max asked, his voice and expression wavering between slight embarrassment and defiance.

“Do you think that would be a feasible way to run this ship?” John asked back matter-of-factly. Beside him he heard Galen’s snicker, so faint it was probably inaudible to everyone else.

When no answer came John closed the meeting.

 

 


	2. The Search

Galen spent the next week using every contact he had to find out more about that sniper attack on Mars. He assumed that whoever had given the order might have further information about the second and far more insidious attack on Matthew’s life that had happened on the _Excalibur_.

Galen didn’t learn anything, and when he returned to the _Excalibur_ he was exhausted and bad tempered. He went straight to the bridge to talk to John, only to learn that he had arrived during the ship’s night cycle and that the _Excalibur’s_ acting captain was most likely fast asleep. Briefly Galen considered waking him, but he wasn’t in such a bad temper that he would do this to the other man just out of spite. He did, however, descend upon the lieutenant’s quarters early the next morning.

As a result John stared at him out of eyes still bleary from sleep. “Couldn’t it have waited till our morning meeting, Galen?” he asked.

“Another one?” Galen quipped. “No, thank you. I’m in no mood for any meetings today. I’ve spent days on finding the person or persons responsible for that failed assassination attempt on Matthew. I’ve found nothing, and frankly that’s simply disgusting. It also leaves us with just two leads to follow: we can find out what that infernal box of Matthew’s has to say on the matter, or we can return to that secret base in Sector 420 and see what we can unearth there.”

While he spoke Galen watched John closely. Last night in Matthew’s quarters, Galen had heard the box whisper again. Its pull on him was getting increasingly harder to ignore. Did John know about the box? Galen couldn’t tell by his reaction. “You know about that box, don’t you?” he asked.

“Yes, I know about it, though I’ve never seen it. The captain never talked about it in any other way than his ‘source’,” John answered, sounding frustrated. Obviously the subject had been something of a sore point between Matthew and John.

“Good. I’m going to have a chat with that box, and I want you to be present. Come to Matthew’s quarters after your meeting. I might need protection,” Galen said.

“Protection? Do you think the box is that dangerous?” John asked, clearly confused and more than a little alarmed.

“I’m sure it is, but you misunderstood me. It’s the box who might need protection.” Galen answered.

***

Later, sitting in Matthew’s quarters, Galen stared at the hidden partition behind the wall. When he’d searched Matthew’s quarters that first time, shortly after he’d learned that Sarah had to put him into suspension, Galen had found it almost immediately. Now it almost felt as if the object hidden there was beckoning to him.

He resisted, tenaciously clinging to his decision to wait for John. When the door chime sounded, though, he practically rushed to the door, barely catching himself before he could pull the lieutenant inside. He straightened and went back to the table. Pointing to the hidden partition, he said, ”It’s behind that wall. Just push against it, and it will slide to the side and open.”

He waited and watched as John retrieved the wooden chest. Giving Galen a questioning look, he carried it over to the table where he carefully set it down. “What now?” he asked.

“A few instructions,” Galen answered. “For your own safety,” he added when he saw John’s slightly skeptical look. “Let me talk to it. At this point it wouldn’t be wise to draw its attention to you. It might be helpful if you’d use your empathic range, but be as cautious as possible. It would be a shame to have another captain of the _Excalibur_ incapacitated because some box fried his brain, even if it’s only the acting captain. Lastly, I think it would be very unwise for me to touch that thing. Please feel free to stop me, should I forget.”

He saw John shift in his chair. He looked more than a little apprehensive now. Leaning forward, he slowly opened the chest, revealing thick upholstery and a smaller box nestled inside. Galen had seen another one like this before, though only in a recording. It glowed in a soft amber-yellow. With its metal ornaments it looked a lot like a small treasure chest. His fingers twitched, and he tightly folded his hands, casting a glance at John to see how the young man was reacting to the sight.

John appeared unperturbed, curious but cautious.

So far so good, Galen thought. Time to see if I can coax this thing into revealing anything that is at least halfway useful.

“Well?” he asked.

The box sat silently in front of him. He sighed inwardly. Of course it would’ve been too easy if it had just answered. Obviously it was time to rattle its cage a bit.

“You can’t believe that playing dead will help you in any way, do you?” he asked, adopting a light conversational tone. This time he didn’t wait for an answer. “You know who I am. You know what I am, and I know exactly what _you_ are,” he continued. Slowly reaching out he let his right hand hover over the box’s closed lid, making sure not to touch it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw John watching him like a hawk.

Galen felt energy pulse under his fingers, the effect as alluring as a siren’s call to a shipwrecked sailor. “Maybe I should just destroy you. I can, and you know it.”

He lowered his hand ever so slightly until it was less than a centimeter that remained between his flesh and this incredible source of power. He didn’t do more for the moment. He wanted to threaten not to fight.

“Traitor,” the box whispered. Its voice sounded hoarse, distorted by strange overtones, and not at all like Galen had expected. Something about it sounded strangely familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“Others have called me that before, and with far more justification to judge me than you,” he replied calmly.

“Manipulator,” the box whispered again.

Galen exhaled loudly. This was fast getting tiresome. “What is this?” he asked. “I thought name calling was slightly beneath you. I said I know what you are. I also know that you’re perfectly capable of talking like any other normal being… object…” He waved his hand haphazardly. “…whatever.”

“Why should I talk to you? You’re not the one I answer to. Why are you here? What have you done to Captain Gideon?” the box asked, apparently giving up on some of its recalcitrance.

Again Galen listened closely. He was sure there was something about that voice. “I’ve done nothing to Captain Gideon,” he said.

“You’ve killed him,” the box answered. “You’ve always been an agent of destruction, one that turns against his own kind, Shadow killer,” the box whispered accusingly.

Shadow killer? I’ve certainly been called worse. Almost against his will Galen was amused. “He’s in cryonic suspension right now. He was critically injured a while back, but _not_ by me,” he reiterated.

“He is dead,” the box said stubbornly as if it hadn’t heard Galen’s words.

“No, he isn’t!” Galen shot back. He leaned forward, his hands clamping around the table’s edge. “He was shot, and later he was attacked again, but he is not dead! I assume that he’s still useful to you, otherwise you’d have seen to his death long ago. So, if you want him back, which might contain the added bonus of no longer having to deal with me, you’ll give me any information you have that might help in rescuing him.”

After his words a long silence reigned. John shifted in his chair again and, silently reaching out, he placed a hand on Galen’s wrist. Reluctantly Galen let go of the table and leaned back again. He sought out John’s gaze, saw the concern and nodded.

“Find the Shadow telepaths. They have the answers,” the box said at last.

“Where can we find them? Who are they?” Galen asked quickly.

“You’ve been there already. Don’t ask again,” the box said, effectively ending their conversation. Galen knew better than to ask again.

***

John had never been bothered by all the minutiae that running a ship like the _Excalibur_ invariably brought with it. Now, however, he felt completely swamped. It wasn’t just the fact that he currently tried to fill two roles. Managing the duties of first officer as well as acting captain would’ve been taxing enough under the best of circumstances.

Unfortunately the circumstances were far from being ideal. With the _Excalibur_ needing a complete rescheduling of all crew-rosters (as he had expected, quite a few of Excalibur’s crew had left the ship, taking John up on his offer after the crew assembly a week ago) as well as the logistical and strategic demands the reorganizing of all their contacts and possible allies brought with them, he was ready to admit defeat. It was simply too much work for one man alone to coordinate.

He had to find a way to delegate some of it, but a lot of it required access to sensitive data, data they hadn’t shared with the crew yet. While he and Dureena had made good progress with their crew interviews, he didn’t feel comfortable enough to choose someone from _Excalibur’s_ regular crew to help him out. That, of course, only left Dureena, Max, and Sarah.

And they aren’t really viable alternatives, he realized. Even if Dureena or Max had the necessary skills, the crew would run riot if either one of them started giving orders. John snorted at the image that came to his mind, seeing Dureena standing in front of a group of crewmen, giving them a glowering look. No, it has to be Sarah, John thought.

In contrast to the other two, Sarah was fully integrated and accepted by the crew. She had saved more than a few lives since she had come aboard, and John knew for a fact that she had good organizational skills. The deciding factor, though, was her equilibrium. He was sure she would keep her calm, regardless of the difficulties she might come up against.

His mind made up, he decided to talk to her immediately. No time like the present, he thought, feeling already heartened by the prospect of having someone to share some of his workload.

***

“You want me to act as first officer?” Sarah asked a while later, her voice rising as she stared at him in utter incredulity.

“What? No! That’s not at all what I meant,” John hastened to answer. “You’re not Earthforce. You don’t have the necessary experience, and I’m well aware that you have duties here that require your attention. The fact is that I need someone who can help me with some of the more administrative duties. I could also use someone who can assist me in conducting negotiations with some of our contacts,” he elaborated. He thought he was making a good point, but his heart sank when he saw her still looking skeptical.

“Aren’t there any other people around who are better qualified?” she asked. “I really have enough work of my own - the plague research, coordinating with the E.A.H.O., not to mention all the ‘normal’ routine duties…” She gave him a helpless look, shrugging her shoulders.

“Look, Sarah. I know that, and I wouldn’t ask if I saw any other alternative, but the crew is not an option at the moment, mostly for security reasons, and while choosing Dureena or Max might hold a certain amount of entertainment value—“

“—they really aren’t an option either.” Sarah finished his sentence. He saw the resigned look in her eyes and felt the faint wave of acceptance accompanying it. “Very well, Captain, but don’t expect wonders,” she said. She looked at him grimly, but soon she smiled at him again.

***

It was probably one of the most pleasant surprises John had had in a while how smoothly he and Sarah managed to divide his work between the two of them. He had asked her to join him in the conference room and had presented her with all the duties he had currently on his to-do list. It can’t hurt to show her just how much work there really is, he had reasoned for himself.

Sarah was appropriately impressed, although her faint smile told him that she had seen through his scheme immediately. Going over the list, they tried to identify areas that could be more or less easily shifted from him to her without interrupting ship’s operations and, more importantly, that she felt comfortable in handling. He wasn’t surprised when Sarah confessed she would like to try her hand at organizing _Excalibur’s_ logistical support.

“I already have experience in that area,” she said. “Sure, organizing a medbay works on a much smaller scale, but I think I know what to look for. I know at least some of the problems, and if you can point me to one of your officers who can answer any arising questions, I’d really like to try. Besides, I’m good at talking to people, regardless of the species they belong to.”

John had given her the job gladly, reassuring her she could always seek his advice when she felt unsure about a decision.

***

Slowly but inexorably, Galen was beginning to hate _Excalibur’s_ mid-morning meetings. The first time he had agreed to attend for a multitude of reasons. He had felt both guilty and responsible for Matthew’s near fatal brush with death. He had wanted to gain John’s trust, but more importantly, with Matthew out of the picture for the moment, Galen thought it critical to keep a very close eye on the rest of _Excalibur’s_ crew. Only in doing so would he be able to steer them along the path he had chosen as the best.

Too late had he realized that by allowing his erstwhile carefully kept distance to dissolve, he had opened the proverbial box of Pandora. All of a sudden, everyone seemed keen to attach themselves to him. Max had the cheek to invite him to a poker game. Dureena had offered him a sympathetic ear should he decide to talk a bit more about his ‘people’s dark secret’, as she had put it, though he suspected her of being even more eager to finally satisfy her burning curiosity and get answers to all of her questions he had so adeptly dodged in the previous year.

Sarah was a different, though equally annoying case. She seemed mostly content with generally mothering him. The thought alone made him shudder. She had even gone so far as to ask him if he needed help in coping with Matthew’s condition. At the time Galen had only looked at her in horrified silence and fled.

Possibly the only one who treated him almost normally was John, except for the fact, of course, that he had developed this annoying habit of treating Galen as his personal advisor.

Having lost track of the discussion going on around him, Galen returned his attention to Max who was currently speaking.

“—the reference to Shadow telepaths and a place we already know is clear enough in my opinion,” Max said, sounding rather disdainful, making Galen wonder what might’ve put the archeologist in such a bad mood this morning.

“Yes, we can safely assume that Shadow telepaths are human telepaths who’ve been enhanced with Shadow technology. Even if I’ve never heard the term, and none of my contacts among Earth’s telepath communities could confirm it, we know that such enhanced human telepaths were used in the last war. Yet, the problem remains. We can’t simply barge in there. The base’s defensive capabilities are far too powerful even for the _Excalibur_ ,” John answered patiently.

Obviously he’s the one who’s driving Max up the fence, Galen thought. I wonder why. He definitely looks resentful, but for what reason?

“Dureena and I are going to infiltrate the base,” he said aloud, drawing everyone’s attention to him. Seeing their doubtful expressions, he raised his eyebrows, giving them a mocking look. “What? John has made it clear that brute force won’t work, and if we use stealth instead, a thief and a techno-mage are definitely your best options.” He looked at Dureena and saw her grin widely. She was balancing one of her knives tip-down on one of her fingers. “Count me in,” she said.

***

Galen wisely refrained from even trying to confine Dureena to his flyer’s access area. Not that he hadn’t thought about it, but he knew it would be useless to ask her not to try getting past any of his flyer’s security measures. Instead he had only given her a stern lecture not to touch anything if she wanted to keep all her fingers, making rather explicit allusions to a possible bloodbath should she decide to ignore his warning.

Then he had taken her with him into the piloting area. With only one chair present, a chair he most definitely wouldn’t share, Dureena had made herself comfortable on the floor, while her gaze lazily travelled through the room.

She looks like a cat who’s finally managed to get her paws into the pot of cream, Galen thought. He wasn’t comfortable having Dureena aboard his flyer. Her obsession to learn from him, her ambition to gain power so she eventually would be able to exact revenge for the mass-murder of her people had always put him on edge.

In this she reminded him far too much of his own younger self, the one that had pursued Isabelle’s murderer without a thought for the harm his hunt might inflict on himself and on others. He had been so consumed by his thirst for revenge and his desire not only to kill those responsible but to annihilate them completely. He had been such a fool back then, not for killing the murderers, but for losing control the way he had.

He became aware that Dureena was studying him closely from her place on the floor. He looked back at her, noticing that she was now half leaning back on her hands, her legs outstretched in front of her. She looked utterly relaxed.

The sight alone made Galen instinctively tense. Normally he relished travel time in his flyer. His intricate connection with his ship, established through his tech, allowed him to partly merge with it. The result was both soothing and exhilarating as it allowed him to experience the sensation of traveling through space in a way that only a mage could. By accessing his flyer’s systems he could see all the places and people in reach of one of his probes. Dureena’s presence, however, wouldn’t allow him to follow his usual routine.

“So,” she said in a way that sounded rather ominous in Galen’s opinion. She looked at him as if she expected some sort of answer. He avoided her gaze.

“Shadows,” she finally deigned to add.

Galen briefly considered if feigning to lose consciousness might be a viable way out of this.

***

“I still don’t understand why you make such a fuss about it,” Dureena said the following day.

Galen sighed, giving Dureena an exasperated look. He was almost sure that she was just being deliberately obnoxious to see how he would react, and, possibly, to draw out more tidbits of information. More calmly than he actually felt, he answered, “Then you simply have to accept it.”

“If you had just told me that your people are dying out, that there won’t be any more techno-mages, I wouldn’t have pressed so hard to be taught,” she replied, bringing up a point she had made at least twice already.

“It’s not one of my favorite subjects,” he answered.

He looked down at her. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her chin propped up on one fist.

“But haven’t you tried finding a way around it? I mean if the knowledge of creating that technology was gone when the Shadows left, why didn’t you try to find another way?” she asked.

Again he looked at her, much more sharply this time. He was struck by how closely her words resembled the ones he had heard from other members of his order. Unlike those other mages, however, Dureena didn’t know of the terrible prize involved in creating a mage’s tech. And I most certainly won’t tell her, though I wonder how she would react. He remembered staring down at Gowen’s flayed body.

To create the tech for a new mage, you needed a life. It didn’t matter what species. The victim could be human, Centauri, even a pak’ma’ra would do. The new mage’s tech would grow inside the victim’s body, slowly killing the host. The process took months. The victim remained conscious for most of it.

For a long time, most techno-mages had been ignorant of this. Only the order’s Circle had known and had kept the truth a secret. Only after the order had retreated to their hiding place, and after the war with the Shadows had already started, had the Circle chosen to reveal the truth.

Just like Gowen, some mages had decided they simply couldn’t live with the knowledge. Flaying their own bodies, they had ripped and cut the tech from their own bones and nerve endings until they finally died of their self-inflicted wounds.

Galen remembered his own revulsion as vividly as if all this had happened only yesterday and not ten years ago. No, this isn’t a tale fit for sharing, he decided. “Let it rest, Dureena,” he said last. “My order’s days are numbered and I for one am at peace with the fact.”

***

After arriving back at the base, Galen brought his flyer down nearby on the planet’s surface. Much to Dureena’s loudly voiced chagrin, he insisted on spending a whole day sending some of his probes inside the base’s domes.

Fortunately her protest had immediately died down once she saw the visual and sensor access the probes gave them. It allowed them to plan their routes precisely. They had two objectives. Discovering and acquiring any data related to Shadow technology, the experiments here, and Shadow telepaths and, if possible, capturing a living Shadow telepath.

The second objective was a relatively new addition to their list. Back on board the _Excalibur_ they’d only discussed the data theft with the others, but Galen felt confident that he could identify a Shadow telepath if he saw one, and Dureena had instantly agreed to his proposal to capture one.

***

“Dureena, stop sneaking!” Galen whispered for what felt like the hundredth time. “As long as you stay close to me you’re completely invisible within the distortion field I create, but when you crouch like that you automatically move farther away. Then I have to expand the field, and, frankly, I’d like to save my energy for other things, or I risk exposing you.” He glared at her reprovingly.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help it,” she whispered back. “It’s what ‘normal’ people do when they try to remain undetected, you know?” She paused. “I have an idea.”

Moving to his left, she stepped closer to him and slung an arm around his waist, before giving him a cheeky grin.

“This isn’t funny,” he told her.

“I agree, but it will stop me from sneaking and you from complaining.”

With a tired sigh he led her further into the dome.

***

They found a Shadow telepath in one of the smaller domes that stood at some distance to the main one. Beforehand they had grabbed hard copies, data crystals and storage drives, practically everything that was portable, and filled the backpack Dureena had brought for that purpose. Galen would’ve preferred a more selective approach, but they had neither the time nor the resources to conduct a systematic computer search without risking detection.

The telepath, however, presented a bigger problem than he had anticipated. They found her in a cryo unit and, while reviving her wouldn’t be too difficult, carrying her would put Galen’s ability to create a large enough distortion field to the test.

“Maybe we should allow her to regain consciousness,” Dureena suggested.

Galen shook his head. He had seen Shadow telepaths during the last war. They had been either catatonic or they had screamed as if trapped in a never-ending nightmare too atrocious to bear. And maybe that’s exactly what they _are_ experiencing, he thought.

“The risk is too great,” he said. “Don’t worry, I can manage.”

Only minutes later he was already ruing his words, long before they had managed to make it out of the dome. The draw that maintaining the field put on his dwindling strength was bad enough, but supporting the telepath’s limp body between them while keeping hold of his staff made him feel like a juggler who half-way into his act realizes he has overestimated his skills and has far too many balls in the air.

He barely made it back to the flyer. Once inside he only managed to instruct his ship to leave before he lost consciousness.

***

After Galen and Dureena had left, John had decided to invest all the time he had gained because of Sarah’s help in further unravelling the telepath connection in the conspiracy of shadows. The idea that Earthforce was again trying to use modified telepaths made him physically sick.

In the last days of the war and shortly thereafter, he had heard stories about rogue telepaths who had been handed over to the Shadows by the Psi Corps. After the war he, like everyone else, had assumed that the ban the Interstellar Alliance had enforced on the use of Shadow technology would have automatically put an end to this horrible chapter in the history of human telepaths and the Psi Corps. Obviously he had been wrong. Someone in Earthforce was _still_ using telepaths. Someone was modifying them, probably to use them as living operating systems for their Shadow hybrids.

Someone among the telepath communities must have noticed this. After the Telepath war, many telepaths had drawn closer together. With the disbandment of the Psi Corps, they had not only been freed from a life rigidly controlled by an overly powerful organization, they had also lost a clear set of rules that had structured their life as long as they could remember.

Inside the telepath communities new connections had formed. While John had never actively sought out a place within one of them, he knew enough people involved. Those were the right people to talk, to he decided.

When he contacted them, he was more than a little surprised that the _Excalibur’s_ so-called defection had actually gained him new credit with many of them. For one reason or another, Earthforce had never been held in high esteem. Many telepaths downright resented the military forces.

John asked his questions. Had anyone heard about telepaths vanishing? It might have happened on Earth before the plague. It might have happened in one of Earth’s colonies. Were there any rumors about Earthforce involved in experiments on telepaths? No, he couldn’t say yet if there was anything going on, but he was looking into it. Yes, of course, any information given would be treated as strictly confidential. Yes, if he found anything out, he would most definitely expose the whole thing. The _Excalibur’s_ crew hadn’t chosen to disassociate itself from Earthforce without good reason.

When his inquiries began to pay off, the picture the answers painted was a grim one.

***

Galen’s flyer returned to the _Excalibur_ a couple of days later. John wasn’t sure what to think of its cargo. Before landing Galen had informed them about the Shadow telepath they had found at the Earthforce base and brought back with them. The fact that they had kept the telepath unconscious during their flight back didn’t do much to alleviate John’s fears. Hastily he made his way to the flight deck, informing Sarah that they would most likely need a cryo unit soon, and that her presence was needed in the bay.

Upon his arrival he saw Galen and Dureena just leaving Galen’s flyer. Between them they supported a woman, obviously the unconscious telepath. John heard footsteps coming up from behind and turning, he saw Sarah hastening toward them, checking back with medbay and requesting a stretcher.

“As much as I understand why you decided to bring her with you, I’m not sure if bringing a modified telepath here will help us,” John said to Galen and Dureena. He watched as the two of them slowly lowered the woman to the ground.

Dureena’s anger flared in front of him like a white flame of fury. “What would you expect us to do? Leave her there? By bringing her here we can at least try to help, and hopefully get some much needed information in exchange,” she said vehemently. Stepping toward him, she pushed a backpack at him. “Naturally we’ve grabbed as much data as we could get, too.”

John looked at Galen, who had remained at the telepath’s side. Surely the techno-mage would understand how unlikely it was that they would gain any reliable information from the telepath, he thought, but Galen only raised an eyebrow and gave him an amused smile before turning his attention back to the telepath and Sarah who was kneeling beside the woman and checking her life signs.

“I heard they are back,” another voice spoke up behind John. It was Max who was just entering the launching bay, chatting with the two med-techs.

Once he came closer, John watched as Max’s eyes curiously flitted from one of their group to the other, until his gaze finally settled on the backpack.

“Is that the data Dureena stole?” he asked. There was a strangely greedy look in his eyes.

“Yes,” John replied cautiously. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of Max’s strange behavior. Since he had raised his mental shields as high as possible ever since Galen had told him they were bringing a Shadow telepath on board, he hadn’t really any way of finding out more at the moment.

“Good,” Max said, then reached forward and snatched the pack out of Matheson’s hands. “Finally something interesting to do,” the archeologist said.

“I wasn’t aware you were bored,” John replied, still cautious.

Max practically sneered. “Well, with Galen and Dureena gallivanting around the galaxy and our good doctor chatting up potential allies, I had nothing else to do, but have endless and so far fruitless conversations with minor officials of Mars’ government. This—” He raised the pack in his hands. “—this is real work. I’m good at data analysis. You just wait.” He turned and strode out of the flight deck.

John turned around again, giving the others a helpless look.

“I think our Max has been feeling neglected,” Dureena finally said.

***

It wasn’t long afterward that Galen showed up on the bridge. John, who had just been in the process of revising _Excalibur’s_ shift-roster for what felt like the tenth time in as many days, was glad for the interruption. “Galen,” he greeted the techno-mage, letting the com pad sink into his lap.

“John,” Galen returned. “I was wondering if you have time for me, perhaps later today. There are a couple of things I’d like to discuss.”

For a second John seriously considered suggesting that now would be as good a time as any, especially if it would give him some respite from shift-rosters, but in the end his sense of duty won out. “Sure, how about 1900 hours? The usual place?” he said instead.

Galen slightly bowed his head. Then he swept off the bridge again.

***

Sitting once again in Captain Gideon’s quarters, John expected they would discuss the presence of the Shadow telepath on board the _Excalibur_. What he didn’t expect was another talk with the captain’s box. He had to admit, though, that it made sense. They would have time to talk about the telepath later.

Following Galen’s eager look, he didn’t waste time and quickly retrieved the wooden chest, bringing it over to the table and setting it down in front of Galen. Pulling his own chair slightly closer, so he would be in easy reach, John sat down, too.

Leaning forward, he opened the chest, revealing the smaller glowing box inside. Then he leaned back to observe. The last time he had watched Galen talking to this box had been both informative and interesting. He expected nothing less this time.

This time it was the box that opened the conversation.

“Yes, traitor?” it asked in his usual raspy, whispering voice.

Galen stared at it, his eyes narrowing. “This was already tiresome the first time. It doesn’t get more original by repetition,” he replied. “We’ve followed your advice and have found a Shadow telepath. What shall we do with her?”

“Talk to her. The telepath can help.”

“How? Most likely she’ll be catatonic when she wakes up.” Galen replied, confirming John’s earlier suspicion that Galen had at least some knowledge about the modifications the Shadows had done to human telepaths.

“Ask your own pet-telepath,” the box snarled.

John couldn’t believe he had heard right. Without thinking he leaned forward, his hand reaching out towards the chest, only to have it caught by the wrist. Catching his gaze, Galen rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t fall for the name-calling’ his expression said.

“Why don’t you explain what you mean instead of trying to get rid of us by throwing us a couple of catchphrases?” Galen asked aloud.

“Sometimes you’re awfully thick, Galen,” the box replied as if that was answer enough.

Apparently it was, even though John had no idea what was going on now. From one moment to the next, Galen’s expression showed utter shock, and John felt the techno-mage’s normally impeccable mental shields shatter like glass, fracturing into bits and pieces. John couldn’t remember ever seeing Galen so surprised. The shock was quickly followed by elation and anguish warring within him.

John was confused. What had the box said that could have had that effect on Galen? All John had heard was the box accusing Galen of being thick. He thought about it, but as much as he tried, he couldn’t make sense of it. He stared from one to the other, wondering if the conversation was at an end now, and if he should close the chest.

“Matthew?” Galen whispered.

“Go away, techno-mage,” the box rasped, its voice sounding strangely loud after Galen’s muted words.

John saw Galen recoil, as if he’d been physically hit and not scolded by mere words. John was even more confused now than he had been before. Why had Galen called the box ‘Matthew’? How could this even be possible? Cautiously he reached out, intent on doing nothing more than the most superficial telepathic scan of the box he could think of. He was hit by a solid wall of darkness that made him retreat as quickly as possible.

“How much of him have you assimilated and, more importantly, how and why?” Galen asked.

“Go away,” the box only repeated.

As if something in his perception had suddenly changed, John could hear it now. Underneath the raspy hoarse voice and almost drowned by the strange harmonics overlaying the box’s voice was Matthew’s voice, too, faint, but clearly recognizable if you knew what to listen for. John couldn’t believe it.

Galen’s hand reached out until it hovered over the box’s cover. It was the same threatening gesture he had used the first time. Then he dropped the posture, resting his hand on the side of the open chest instead. He looked at John, defeat in his eyes.

John decided it was probably enough for the evening. He closed the chest and brought it back to its hiding place. “Let’s go somewhere else for a while,” he said to Galen.

***

When John led Galen to one of the entry points of _Excalibur’s_ bullet car system, the techno-mage shot him a quizzical look.

With an inviting gesture John ushered him in and said, “I remember you told me once that taking a few rounds in here might help me clear my mind and arrive at some interesting conclusions. I think that’s what we both need right now.”

Galen said nothing in response, but he entered the bullet-car and took his usual seat at the rear. For a while they sat in silence. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable one. Both of them had too much to think about.

At last Galen said, “We have to get him out of there. I don’t care what it takes or what we have to do, but we have to get him out of there.” Staring out through the bullet car’s rear window, he spoke with grim determination, and even though John couldn’t see his face he had no doubt that Galen meant every word he said.

In this Galen and Gideon were very much alike. Both men shared the same obsessive streak when it came to reaching their goals. “Do you have any idea what might’ve happened?” John asked.

Galen turned and looked toward him. Then he rose from his seat, came over and sat down opposite John again. “I have quite a few ideas,” Galen answered with a sigh. “It seems likely that he was attacked by one or more Shadow telepaths. There are several things I don’t understand about it, one of them the obvious irrelevance of line of sight, but assuming it was a psychic attack fits the facts we have the best.

“Somehow they managed to separate his consciousness, or at least a significant part of it, from his body.” He paused and gave John a stern look. “John, would you please stop looking at me like that? You asked me for ideas. I’m giving them to you. It’s not my fault if they don’t make much sense.” Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “That would explain, of course, why that overgrown nécessaire is so adamant that we talk to the Shadow telepath.”

John hadn’t been aware that he had looked particularly surprised or disbelieving. Maybe it’s just Galen’s way of pointing out the ridiculousness of his ideas before anyone else can beat him to it, he thought. Galen’s theory had some merits, however. As he had said, at least some parts of it fitted the facts they knew.

Others, however, didn’t. John had never heard of any telepath who could separate someone else’s consciousness from their body. The most flawed aspect, though, had been pointed out by Galen himself. A telepath had to be in line of sight to use her or his skills effectively. After Gideon had been brought to the medbay there simply hadn’t been any way of doing that.

Just as he thought it, John had an idea. Slowly he said, “What if the telepath’s psychic attack began while Matthew was still on Mars?” he asked. “Down on the surface he was in line of sight of a large crowd of people. Maybe they kind of latched onto him… I don’t know… and then they kept the contact when we left.”

Galen‘s expression grew speculative. “I wasn’t aware that a telepath could do such a thing.”

John snorted. “As far as I know it shouldn’t be possible, but then I’m only a P6 and we’re talking about artificially enhanced telepaths here. Who knows what they can do?” The idea alone made John shiver.

“This means, of course, that we have to talk to that telepath first thing in the morning.” Galen said, smiling brightly as if just like that all their problems had been solved.

“Galen,” John said warningly.

Galen only stared at him, hard and very quietly.

Galen’s earlier words came back to John. ‘I don’t care what it takes or what we have to do,’ Galen had said.

“Fine, we’ll attempt to talk to her after we’ve informed the others about what we’ve discovered,” John relented.


	3. The Telepath and the Box

We are so close. The thought played through Galen’s mind over and over. He placed a hand on John’s shoulder, trying to reassure the lieutenant standing in front of him that everything would be all right. Of course, most probably it wouldn’t be, but there was no point in fretting about it beforehand, was there?

After sitting through another excruciating meeting, a meeting mostly spent explaining their latest conversation with the box hidden in Matthew’s quarters and the conclusions they had reached afterward, Galen and John had taken turns answering the questions of the others.

Unsurprisingly Max had noisily demanded to see that box. The two of them had shot down that request immediately. Sarah and Dureena had both been skeptical and had made no secret of it. Eventually, though, they’d run out of objections and had agreed to go ahead with Galen’s plan to gain further information about Matthew’s current condition.

They had brought the Shadow telepath into a bare room and secured her to a high backed chair. Nothing was allowed into the room, except for the telepath, the chair, and the two of them. They would try talking to her. Should that prove impossible, John would attempt reaching her telepathically.

Galen had argued for speeding up the Shadow telepath’s slow recovery, but Sarah had been adamant that they should allow her to come out of suspension slowly. They’d kept the telepath on sedatives for days before putting her into suspension. She really didn’t need any more shocks to her system, Sarah had argued.

As a result Galen and John had spent almost an hour waiting for the telepath to slowly regain consciousness, far too long in Galen’s opinion to keep John’s rising nervousness effectively in check.

Now the woman’s eyelids fluttered. She moaned softly as her head lolled to the side. Earlier they’d discussed restraining her head, too, but that time Dureena had spoken against it. “It will be bad enough for her to wake up in restraints,” she had said.

Galen wasn’t so sure if it hadn’t been a mistake to follow Dureena’s advice. What if she harms herself? We can’t risk her getting injured, at least until we know if she can help us. He took a half step forward until he stood directly behind John, near enough to protect or strike out, whatever might be necessary.

Slowly the woman’s head turned and she looked at them. Her empty stare wasn’t promising.

“Hello,” John said, his voice calm and soothing. “My name is John. I’ve rescued you. You’re safe now.” He used exactly the words he and Galen had agreed on. Keep it short and simple, Galen had advised, and this is what they’d come up with.

The woman’s stare remained impassive. Though she appeared to hear him, she showed no discernible reaction to John’s words. At least she isn’t screaming, Galen thought, grateful for small mercies, even if he had hoped she would be more aware and responsive.

“John, I think you need to reach out to her telepathically.” Again he put a hand on John’s shoulder. “I’m right behind you,” he added.

“All right,” John replied softly, almost as if he was afraid she might hear him and protest.

Galen felt the shoulder under his hand tense. For a long time nothing happened. He regretted that he had no way of observing the telepathic communication directly. Telepathy was a skill techno-mages had never been successful in emulating. All he could do now was try to stay patient and watch out for any signs of trouble. After what felt like hours, though he knew it had been only minutes, he felt John sag under his touch.

“Nothing. There’s nothing. She’s completely blocking me,” John said in frustration, turning toward Galen. “I’ve tried everything. I even pushed as hard as I can, even though she might’ve interpreted it as an attack. Still, nothing.”

This won’t do. There has to be some way to break through, Galen thought. Then he had an idea.

“Wait here. Don’t do anything while I’m away,” he told John and rushed out of the room.

***

He had barely entered the room again, when John started protesting.

“Galen, you can’t be serious,” he exclaimed, staring at the chest Galen was carrying.

Galen decided to ignore him for the moment. Stepping around John, he carefully placed the chest in front of the telepath, near enough so that it was in good view, but hopefully far enough away that she wouldn’t perceive it as an immediate threat.

Turning to John, he said, ”Would you please open it?”

John only looked at him and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He obviously thought he could ‘out-stare’ Galen, little did he know. When Galen remained just as silent, John finally gave in.

“You’re insane. You know that, don’t you? We have no idea what might happen. You might be seriously endangering her life. Are you really willing to risk that?” he asked.

Briefly Galen wondered if he should soften up his reply, but he didn’t have the patience. “Yes,” he said. “Most likely she’s beyond our help anyway. However, she might be able to aid us in getting Matthew back. Your captain, John, and your friend, or so I’ve been led to believe.”

John stared at him angrily, but he walked over to the box and knelt down. Casting a look over his shoulder, he said, “Emotional blackmail, Galen? Rather cheap for you, don’t you think?” He opened the chest, revealing the box inside. He backed away from it slowly until he stood level with Galen.

“And thus the curtain rises…” Galen muttered softly. He watched the telepath’s empty gaze settle on the box. For a while her expression remained as empty as before, but then it began to change. Surprise and shock played over her features as her eyes widened.

“You,” she whispered, trying to lean forward. “Want to touch you.” Her voice was hoarse, her words barely discernible.

“Do you know what that is?” Galen asked.

Reluctantly the telepath looked at him. She seemed to consider him for a long time as if she wasn’t sure she understood what she was seeing.

Her attack came without warning. One moment she was passively staring at him, the next it felt as if she was driving a white-hot lance right into his brain. He didn’t even try to suppress his scream. She was clumsy, though, and it didn’t take him more than a couple of seconds to close and strengthen his mental shields again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw John taking a step toward the telepath and the box. With a hand to John’s wrist, Galen stopped him. “Wait,” Galen said.

“Traitor,” the telepath muttered, her voice low and threatening.

Galen wondered when the box would join in this conversation. “Can you understand me?” he asked, ignoring the by now all too familiar accusation.

“Let me touch it. It speaks to me,” she answered. “So alone.”

This was probably the lever he had been looking for. “Why don’t we make a bargain? There’s a mind trapped in that box that needs to be set free. If you help me rescue him, then I will allow you to touch the box,” he offered.

“A dangerous path,” the box warned ominously.

Oh, so _now_ it decides to join in, Galen thought, disgruntled, just when I’m finally making progress. He wondered if he could just ignore the warning, but one look at the telepath showed him that she was once again completely transfixed by the box.

“Do you object? In a way you’re practically family,” Galen said to the box. He saw John, giving him an astonished look.

“One day, we’ll come for you.” It was the telepath again who replied.

In a way it was almost a compliment, Galen thought, amused. If he hadn’t needed their help, he might even have enjoyed this interplay. Even considering the graveness of their situation, he had to resist the temptation of egging them on, just out of pure spite.

“How will this work?” he asked instead, returning their conversation to the only relevant topic: How to free Matthew’s consciousness from the box.

“Transference of mind from one to the other,” the telepath replied, not taking her eyes off the box as if that part of the bargain was just a matter of course. Galen looked from the telepath to the box and back again. Somehow he was quite sure that he would get no more information from them than that.

“Get the box,” he said to John and left the room.

***

He had planned to head straight to medbay, but once outside John rounded on him. Setting the box down between them, he blocked Galen’s path.

“Where are you going, Galen?”

It was really a stupid question, and he gave John a suitably irritated look. Stepping sideways, he tried to get past, but found his way blocked again. “What?” he finally snapped. “You heard them. We need to get Matthew in there, so that the telepath can transfer his consciousness.” He couldn’t believe that John hadn’t been following.

“No,” John said.

Maybe he really hadn’t. He was certainly getting annoying. Galen stared at him, willing the younger man to back down.

“We’re going to talk this through, and once we’ve discussed all the possible ramifications of this plan, _and_ if we still think it’s our best choice by that time, then, and only then, will we go ahead with this,” John said reasonably.

Galen wondered if there was any way out of this. Unfortunately he couldn’t think of one. That didn’t mean he liked the prospect. Some of his thoughts must have shown on his face, because John practically glared at him at this point.

“And don’t even think about threatening me, Galen. It might have worked once back on Mars. It certainly won’t work now,” John said.

***

Not for the first time in recent days, John was wondering how exactly he had stumbled into this bizarre new reality. Before they had gone to Mars, everything had seemed rather ordinary. They were searching for a cure for the plague and as an aside, he and the captain were trying to uncover a suspected conspiracy within Earthforce. It was probably not everyone’s idea of an ordinary life, but for John it had worked well enough.

Then Matthew had been shot and Sarah had had to put him in cryonic suspension.

From then on, events had taken on a life of their own, like an avalanche making its way down a mountain, either flattening or gathering everyone and everything in its path. John had committed mutiny and had incited _Excalibur_ ’s crew to follow him. They had become a rogue ship, and while they remained true to their primary objective, the conspiracy within Earthforce had gained a far higher status on their list of priorities now.

He and the others, those that Galen teasingly referred to as _Excalibur_ ’s ‘little band’ (and completely ignoring that he was already a part of said band) had plowed ahead. They’d begun reorganizing their network of contacts and allies, and they’d just started considering strategies of avoiding the new enemies they’d made by going rogue.

Now they were about to employ a Shadow telepath and a largely unknown alien artifact to save their captain’s life.

John glanced at Galen, but for once the techno-mage avoided his eyes. He’s probably still angry at me. John had been startled how impulsively Galen had acted after their confrontation with the telepath. He had seemed perfectly willing to rush this no matter the consequences. This wasn’t the Galen John had come to know during the last year. Then again, Galen had stated very clearly how important it was for him to get the captain back.

Gideon rarely talked about Galen. Early on in their mission, he had told John that he trusted the techno-mage, but hadn’t gone into details. Over the course of the following year John had now and again snatched glances and impressions of the friendship that had developed between the two men. His telepathic abilities had occasionally shown him other, more private glimpses, but he had put those firmly to the back of his mind. It really wasn’t his business. Again he glanced at Galen. He wondered if he should tell the techno-mage that he understood, but before he could say anything, Sarah, Dureena and Max joined them in the conference room.

***

“I would feel much better if we could do this in my medbay,” Sarah told them. She was carrying all the medical equipment she considered absolutely necessary to the room they held the Shadow telepath in.

“I understand you, but it would be too dangerous to allow the telepath near any computer interfaces, and there are far too many of those in your medbay. They made that mistake on Babylon 5 during the Shadow war; they didn’t know better at the time. As a result the involved Shadow telepath tried to merge with the station, and we certainly don’t want that to happen to the _Excalibur,_ ” John said. He smiled at her. “Don’t worry, Sarah. I’m sure this will work.” He had offered to help her collect her equipment, and she had accepted gratefully.

They would all be there, they had decided. Though it wasn’t strictly necessary, none of them had been willing to be left out, and even if only Sarah, John, and Galen would play an active role, Dureena and Max deserved to be present.

Sarah had instructed a pair of med techs to transfer the captain’s cryo unit to the room. Once everything was set up and everyone was there, Sarah would deactivate the unit and start resuscitating the captain. Meanwhile the Shadow telepath would, hopefully, do what she had said she could do. John would try to supervise her. Galen would be there to stop her from doing anything else if necessary.

When they had talked it through, it had all seemed pretty straightforward. Now, however, while John followed Sarah, carrying a bag in one hand and some sort of unidentifiable medical equipment in the other, he thought they must all be mad to go ahead with this. But then, what alternatives did they have?

John had asked exactly that question earlier during the meeting.

Galen had given him a sharp look and said, “Oh, we could always call in Bester. I’m sure he’d be delighted to help us out.”

The suggestion had felt like a punch to the gut. John hadn’t asked again.

***

“Are we set?” John asked. He looked around the room, catching first Galen’s then Sarah’s eyes, saw them nod, and finished his last check with Max and Dureena, who stood at the back of the room, watching the rest of them tensely.

John wheeled the chest over until it was placed directly in front of the telepath. He had put it on a portable stand. It was a solution they’d come up with at the last second. “This way we can keep her restrained,” Dureena had said, and everyone had agreed.

Opening the chest, he turned it around, so that the box’s front side was pointing toward the telepath.

“Sarah,” he said.

“I’m pulling him out now,” she answered, her voice tense. She was still very unhappy with this.

John reached out and he could sense that the Shadow telepath was doing… something, but to his dismay he realized that he had no idea what exactly. He glanced at Galen, but the techno-mage’s expression offered no clues, and he didn’t return John’s gaze. Galen stood perfectly still, his mind shuttered while his eyes flicked from the telepath and the box to Matthew and then back again.

“Now would be a good time,” Sarah said anxiously.

The Shadow telepath looked up at John. “Free me. I need to touch,” she said.

“No,” Galen interrupted immediately. “We agreed you can touch the box afterward. First, do what you’ve promised.”

She looked at him disdainfully. “Not the box, idiot. Him!” Her head turned toward the captain before she looked at John again.

This was unexpected. She hadn’t said anything about having to touch the captain earlier. The idea made John uncomfortable and instantly suspicious.

“Galen,” he said. It was mostly a question.

“I’m not sure,” Galen replied.

“I’m losing him again!” Sarah’s distressed exclamation rang out through the room. Her words decided their next actions.

Galen stepped forward and quickly removed the straps that had so far restrained the telepath. Grabbing her arm, he dragged her over to the open cryo unit where Sarah was still trying to revive the captain. John followed them hastily, wanting to stay close, even if there wasn’t much he could do.

He watched as the telepath raised her hands to the captain’s head, heard Galen’s muttered ‘one wrong move and you’re going to wish you were dead’, and then John could sense a shift. It was almost imperceptible. He certainly would’ve missed it had he not been so focused on the captain. He saw Sarah’s face relax and the telepath’s hands drop away. That’s it? He couldn’t help but wonder. All their efforts, all the worries and the trouble and then it was over within only a handful of minutes. He felt all the tension drain out of him. Everything would be all right now. They had their captain back. He was sure of it.

He was just about to tell them when Galen dragged the telepath back to the chair they’d kept her in, pushing her down into it. John couldn’t say what he found so alarming about the way Galen acted, but something instantly set him on edge.

“Galen—“ he began, but stopped when Galen pushed the portable stand with the box on top of it toward the telepath.

“Here,” Galen said and stepped back.

The telepath cast them both a suspicious look, but then she reached out until both her hands rested on top of the box’s cover. Slowly her expression turned into a smile, the first one John had seen on her face since they’d woken her. Suddenly her expression blanked again, and she fell forward until her head and part of her upper body rested on top of the box.

Stepping closer, Galen pressed two fingers to her neck, carefully avoiding touching the box. “She’s dead,” he announced, and walked over to the cryo unit and the captain.

John felt shell-shocked by what had just taken place. Had Galen known what would happen? It did seem entirely feasible. Was touching the box deadly to everyone? Galen’s insistence that John should handle the chest and the box suddenly seemed far more disquieting than before. John stared at the telepath’s dead body. No, not even Galen would be so callous to risk my life like that, he decided after a moment. He was almost sure about his judgment.

***

The news spread through the ship like wildfire. Captain Gideon was out of suspension. Somehow they had managed to save him, and though Doctor Chambers had said he would have to stay in medbay for at least a couple of days, _Excalibur_ ’s crew reacted with open enthusiasm to the news.

John understood them well. He couldn’t wait to resign from his position as acting captain as soon as possible, not that it hadn’t been a learning experience, but for the time being he was more than content to step right back into second row and let Gideon take the lead again.

He and the others had retreated to the conference room after Sarah had made her first tentative prognosis that the captain would make a full recovery. She had disappeared into the direction of her medbay, two med techs who were carefully maneuvering the cryo unit trailing behind her. She still hadn’t joined them, but John wasn’t surprised. He didn’t expect to see her out of medbay until she had made absolutely certain that the captain really would be all right. That left himself, Dureena, Max, Galen, and quite a lot of questions.

“I must say that I still don’t understand everything that happened there,” Dureena said. “I mean, I understand that the telepath transferred Gideon’s consciousness from the box to his body. You said that would happen when we talked about this before, but what exactly happened afterward? Why did the box kill her?” She looked at John and then at Galen. John followed her example, until Galen sighed resignedly.

“What do you want to know?” he asked.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Dureena asked in turn, her question earning her another slightly more exasperated sigh.

“First, I don’t think the box killed her—“ he began.

“But you said so,” Max interjected.

“Yes, thank you, Max. A gold star for listening and participating in class,” Galen said mockingly. “If I may continue?”

When no one spoke, he said, “I believe that the box assimilated her consciousness, just as it had done before with Matthew, but in her case the assimilation was obviously consensual.”

The explanation made sense, but something else was troubling John, something he had heard a while back. Then he remembered. “Why did you say that the two were practically family?” he asked.

“Did I?” Galen asked.

“Galen,” John said tiredly.

“Both the box and the telepath were in part created by the Shadows, or at least by Shadow technology. While my information about the box is incomplete, it practically reeks of Shadow influence. That’s what I meant when I said that they were practically family. With the telepath gone, the next logical step should be to destroy the box, to make certain that it can never again cause harm to anyone. It’s a catalyst of chaos and destruction,” he said. He looked around the table, his expression more passionate than John had ever seen it.

For a long moment silence fell over the table.

“But if what you say is true then destroying the box would destroy the telepath’s consciousness, too. Do you really think she deserves that? Most likely she was just another victim,” Dureena said at last, frowning at Galen.

He leaned forward, his hands spread out in front of him, “It doesn’t matter. They are both Shadow creatures, both tainted,” he answered sharply.

By contrast Dureena’s voice was very soft, “You mean as tainted as you are yourself?”

At her words and the underlying implication, John half expected either a full-fledged temper tantrum or Galen storming off in a huff.

Instead Galen smiled at her, albeit a little thinly. “Yes, Dureena, exactly like me. And you know what they say, don’t you? It takes one to know one.” His voice practically dripped with self-irony.

John felt it was high time to step in. “We will decide on the box when Captain Gideon is well again. It’s _his_ box after all.” He looked from Galen to Dureena and saw the two reluctantly giving up on staring at each other as if they were ready to attack.

“Well I for one I’m glad this is over,” Max said in an obvious attempt to break the tension that hung between them. “Does anyone want to know what my analysis of the data that Dureena and Galen stole on that Earthforce base shows so far?” he asked.

“How about you give that report to Captain Gideon when he’s up to it?” Dureena asked back before John could come up with an answer.

He would have put it more diplomatically, he thought, but he nodded.

“I think that’s a good idea. He is, after all, the captain,” he said and smiled.

***

Galen waited until the next day before he decided it was time. Entering the medbay, he sought out Sarah and found her studying someone’s medical records. Briefly he wondered if they were Matthew’s. “Do you have a moment?” he asked.

“Of course,” she replied warmly.

Galen felt slightly self-conscious about what he wanted to ask, but then it wasn’t that outlandish a request, he reasoned with himself. “I take it that Matthew is still under supervision?” he asked.

Sarah nodded. “Yes, he’s sleeping right now. He was briefly conscious last night, though, and his responses were all perfectly normal. As much as I had my doubts about what happened yesterday, I’m happy now to have a patient who’s going to make a full recovery.” She smiled at him contentedly.

Galen hesitated, but only for a second or two. “Then maybe I can ask you a favor,” he began. “I’d like to have a moment or two with Matthew in private. I promise I won’t wake him up,” he added when he saw her slightly skeptical look.

He immediately knew that she wanted to ask him why, just as he was sure that she wouldn’t, because she thought it would be unprofessional. “Okay, but only for a few minutes,” she said at last. Showing him to one of the medbay’s side rooms, she then turned and picked up her records again.

Inside, Galen found Matthew lying in bed, apparently deeply asleep. He looked healthy, maybe a bit peaky around the nose, but that would pass soon enough. Quietly Galen stepped closer. He knew exactly what he wanted to do, had indeed thought about it for most of the night. He really didn’t need more than a few minutes.

Sitting down beside the bed, he leaned forward, conjuring a glyph over Matthew’s forehead. At the same time he visualized the invocation for creating a message in the memory of another one’s mind.

_Matthew, I hope you’ll forgive me that I failed in following your request. I simply couldn’t ‘go away’ while your life was in danger. I will do so now, though._

_A lot has happened since Mars. I’m sure Lt. Matheson will be happy to fill you in. I admit I would like to be present when he does. You’re definitely in for a surprise or two, my friend._

_I won’t waste your time by trying to come up with excuses why I kept you in the dark about some truths. I understand your disappointment. Call me, when you’re willing to listen. Galen_

A small wave of his hand and the glyph vanished into nothingness. Leaning back, he studied Matthew’s face. It was just a small indulgence. Sarah would throw him out soon enough.

***

John had taken a com pad with him when he had gone to the flight deck. That way he would be able to write a report or two he could hand to Captain Gideon once he was well enough. He wasn’t entirely sure if this wasn’t a futile exercise. Maybe he was wrong, he thought. After all it was just a hunch. As far as he knew Galen hadn’t said anything. Somehow, though, John was quite certain that this hunch was dead on.

For a while he’d just stood beside Galen’s flyer, but the position soon became uncomfortable - writing while standing just wasn’t a good combination.

He gave Galen’s flyer a speculative look. He wasn’t too sure if he trusted that vessel, but eventually he gave up his reluctance and climbed onto one of the flyer’s stubby wings. When nothing untoward happened he sat down cross-legged and continued with his reports.

About an hour later, Galen found him like this. Either John had been too engrossed in his own report (possible, but unlikely) or Galen was operating in stealth mode once again (very probable). Whatever the reason, John didn’t hear Galen coming closer.

“Lieutenant, would you please refrain from using my flyer as a piece of furniture!” Galen exclaimed sharply.

John flinched, momentarily startled. He caught himself quickly enough, though. “So, you’re leaving,” he said, letting his pad sink into his lap.

“I have to,” Galen answered, his face as inscrutable as his mind.

John wasn’t so sure, but he thought he could guess and understand Galen’s reasoning. “Perhaps,” he said lightly, letting the word hang in the air between them until it slowly turned into a question. “But then gratitude can be a powerful agent.”

“I’m not bartering for forgiveness,” Galen replied angrily.

John fought not to smile. “I wasn’t suggesting anything like that, but you _did_ save his life,” he reasoned.

“Yes,” Galen said slowly. “I’m afraid it’s a habit of mine.”

He looked very serious for a moment. It made John wonder if the techno-mage kept count. Then Galen smiled, the expression appearing as quickly as his earlier anger. “And now I am leaving, so I suggest you get down from there,” he said lightly.

***

A short time later, John was back on the bridge. The captain’s chair still didn’t feel comfortable, but knowing that he would soon be able to vacate it for good left him feeling almost nostalgic about it.

A movement to his right caught his attention, and when he looked toward the bridge’s entrance he saw Sarah standing there. She looked more than a little frazzled.

Coming closer, she said, “John, could you please come down to medbay? The captain is awake. He says that Galen left him a message, promising him a lot of surprises, and that you would be happy to tell Gideon all about it. At first he wanted to come up here. I had to threaten him that I would restrain him to the bed if he tried, but now he’s adamant that you come down immediately.” She looked at him imploringly.

Her words caused a flutter to settle in John’s stomach. It wasn’t that he regretted anything he had done, but still he had hoped for at least another day before he had to fill the captain in on what had happened in the last two weeks. Thanks Galen, he thought.

To Sarah he said, “Tell him I’ll just grab my reports, and then I’ll be with him.” Leaning toward her, so that only Sarah could hear him, he added, “Just make sure you keep some sedatives at hand, okay?”

 

 

 


End file.
